How to decide belt conveyor inclination
6 Signs You Suck at Deciding Your Belt Conveyor’s Inclination Angle
Although a conveyor may operate at any angle, including vertically. It’s doubtful if it’ll move stuff.
A conveyor with a particularly high upward inclination will struggle because the material will tumble back down to the bottom. In general, the steeper the angle, the less material that can be conveyed up.
1. You go past the maximum limit of inclination:
- The maximum angle for a flat belt is usually acknowledged to be 20°.
- If you need to go steeper than that, a 15mm chevron pattern belt will carry you up to 32°.
- If you need to go any higher, a troughed and flighted belt with standard excavated material can reach as high as 45°.
2. Not understanding your material:
- The previously stated parameters for chevron pattern, troughed, and flighted belts are primarily focused on relatively small lumps of material. As the lumps grow in size, they become so large and heavy that the material rolls over the chevrons like a flat belt. In that situation, the maximum inclination of 20° applies.
- Spherical materials can also be a concern, due to this reason we address that issue when selecting the most appropriate conveyor for the job.
3. Your motor isn’t compatible with the increased load:
- Based on the angle of the conveyor, you may need to increase the motor power to handle the increased load. When we propose a conveyor for a project, we analyze friction, speed, load, and other criteria (with an adequate safety margin) to estimate the motor you’ll require.
4. Recklessly loading a steep conveyor:
- Consider the fact that the steeper the conveyor, the more carefully you must load it. If the slope is particularly steep, it’s often essential to slow down the conveyor so that the material will not bounce out of the hopper when it is dumped in. It is also absolutely critical to start the conveyor unloaded to eliminate overloading the motor.
- If your project demands the use of a steep conveyor, we will advise you on the best approach to load it for your specific application.
5. Hazardous Downhill Conveying:
- It should likely be fine if you’re conveying dry soil downhill. That being said, if you’re dealing with larger material, such as rubble, gravel, or clay lumps, and it has to go down a steep slope, we’ll reassure you it’s a terrible idea.
- If boulders and rubble begin to tumble downhill on the conveyor belt while it is running, the material will rush towards the end of the conveyor. If there are workers around the machine, it’s a recipe for disaster, therefore we’ll advise against it.
6. Unsure about your site:
- The simplest solution is to just call us to come to look at it. We provide all of our clients with a complimentary site inspection so that we can showcase our years of professional experience to you. If we’re skeptical, we’ll return to our office, draw it out, and figure it out. We don’t take unnecessary risks
Contact Us
Feel free to contact us if you’d like to discuss a project that requires a conveyor or schedule a complimentary site inspection.
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